US etac plant to restart 2 Nov after turnaround

27 October 2008 21:53[Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Solutia's US ethyl acetate (etac) plant in Massachusetts near Springfield began a six-day scheduled turnaround this week and will restart on 2 November, a market source said on Monday.

The company completed a similar turnaround at its ?xml:namespace>Michigan etac plant in Trenton and restarted it earlier this month, the source added.

The two etac plants combined will produce about 23,000 tonnes of etac next year, the source said. BP Chemicals markets the material.

A Solutia spokesman offered no immediate comment on the turnaround.

A buyer said the Solutia plant's turnaround would likely have little impact on etac pricing because of its small output. The Massachusetts plant produces about 14,000 tonnes/year according to ICIS plants and projects.

While etac pricing has held steady in the past month, the buyer said it expected etac to decline the way prices for aliphatics and aromatics have, following the falling price of crude in recent weeks.

"In time it will hit everyone," the buyer said.

US etac contract prices remained unchanged last week, ranging from 70-74 cents/lb ($1,543-1,631/tonne, €1,234-1,304/tonne), according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Major US etac producers include Celanese, Eastman Chemical and Solutia.